Mashreq Bank, the Dubai lender controlled by the Al Ghurair family, reported a 5 per cent year-on-year rise in its first quarter net profit as allowances for bad loans dropped.

Net income for the three-month period ending 31 March climbed to Dh628 million, the lender said in a statement on Monday. Impairment charges for the quarter fell 13.6 per cent from the year earlier period to Dh261m.

The lender’s total provisions for loans and advances reached Dh3.8 billion, more than 123 per cent coverage for non-performing loans, it added.

Mashreq, which plans to spend Dh500m on digital transformation over the next five years, also reported a 3 per cent jump in financing income to 936m, while investment income climbed to Dh48m from Dh13m reported for the first quarter of 2018.

Mashreq’s constant push for innovation and our commitment to being a customer focused bank has yet again manifested itself in a solid set of financial results for the first quarter of 2019,” Mashreq chief executive Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, said. “We have invested a significant amount of effort and resources to ensure that all our key products are designed with the sole intention of improving the customer journey.”